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An anonymous reader writes: Terrorist organization ISIS has been in the news a lot lately for their hostile activities in Iraq and Syria. They've also been very active online, posting propaganda and photos on various social networking sites to try to recruit more members. Frequently, they'll have pictures of themselves in nondescript locations — but even carefully selected images give clues to a real location. Citizen journalists at Bellingcat analyzed a group of these photos, comparing buildings and bridges in the background to images from Google Earth. With very little to go on, they were able to pinpoint the location of a terrorist training camp.

Iraq has been asking the US to send in the troops for a while now. We have been ignoring them and playing games claiming that the Maliki government caused ISIS to happen and more or less forced him out of office before we would help. Now we are doing limited bombings and offering strategy meetings with about 1000 troops in the area supposedly to protect US personnel. We were going to go in and rescue some people on a mountain but I guess they were eith

The Kurds helped those people on the mountain escape to Turkey (likely with clandestine US involvement as well). ISIS was actually using Turkey's old embassy in Mosul to hold some Turks hostage for awhile, so it's no surprise that this training camp turned up in Mosul. Neat detective work tracking it down, though.

Of course a lot can be said about other actions if they had been taken. For instance, President Clinton also had the opportunity to take out Bin Laden before 9/11 but chose not to for probably good reasons (too many civil

First off, this is in a part of Iraq that the Iraqi gov does NOT control. They probably would have little issues with us taking it out.
Secondly, W has already shown that CONgress can be conned into anything.
Third, while I am in favor of blowing this to bits (along with the recruits), it does ZERO good, unless the iraqi gov and army is ready to defend itself AND if the gov. is ready to change. The iraqi regime that is in control is Shias and they have not been willing to work with the Sunnis. In fact, the

You need to start paying attention. The ISIS threat has already lead to a change in the Iraqi government. They have replaced their military commanders who failed to put up a fight when ISIS first started their attacks in Iraq and reformed their military units. The ISIS threat also caused the Iraqi government to directly ask the US for help. That is a major political hurdle to cross for any Arab leader these days. US supporters in the ME are not very popular to put it mildly. The Arab leaders may ask for US

What lead to a change in the Iraqi government was that Maliki refused to allow US troops to stay permanently. Word is the successor comes pre-agreed on that issue.

Meanwhile IS is the enemy in Iraq but somehow we're not supposed to notice that they are our allies in Syria. Who would have thought that they might use the same weapons we gave them in A suddenly in B?

And since they are additionally quite heavily funded mostly from Saudi Arabia, which is basically the most brutal theocratic dictatorship on the pl

And don't forget that ISIS is repeating once and again that they want to built their own islamic state and "live peacefully" there. To Israel an ISIS state would be a real blessing (note how the IS has not yet uttered a single word against Zionism, Jews or Isreal... except here in Europe, but not on Iraq).

There are a lot of reasons why Israel would love an ISIS state in Iraq: It will take them a lot of time to become a real threat to Israel, and this could only happen if they had an air force: From the nor

Uh, no. ISIS has NOT said that they want to live peacefully. THey have openly said that they will kill all non-sunnis in "their" area. In addition, they have spoken against Israel. It is only outside of the middle east where they try to pacify fools.

I have been paying attention. There are many that call for America (and the west) to go back into Iraq with troops. WORST IDEA GOING. This needs to be done by their own troops. However, just because they changed generals and leaders does NOT solve the issues. In particular, Iraqis' need to set their religion and focus on being a nation. That is, that they pull together AS A NATION, and not as tribal warlords, which is exactly where they are at today.

" they are in another country and that country protects them, preventing anyone else from entering the country in order to get rid of them. Doing so without "permission" will lead to more trouble than it's worth."

This is really a non-issue. You really don't understand modern warfare if you actually believe that.

Time to implement the game App Wack-a-Terrorist. It shows you pictures from terrorist groups' propaganda. Recognize anything? Click it and describe it. Points for accuracy in time and space, people,

Wouldn't it be more effective to open more trade with Russia and introduce them to more of our culture? That'll put them flat on their ass. Give them all the Coke, Meth, Gay Rights, Westboro Baptist, Al Sharpton, Ku Klux Klidiots, Hollywood, Ferguson and throw in a GIANT Double Helping of Illegal Mexican Immigrants who want rights, Indian Casinos, Kochs, Polygamous Mormons, "potpourri", industrial pork, McDonalds, WalMart, PBS and Diane Feinstein. Just see if that doesn't set them back a ways...

Ehemmm... Where have you been all this time since 1989? Last time I checked they had all this stuff... well, except Mormons and Gay rights. But I swear that last time I checked there were several McDonalds and Starbucks in Moscow:

That is why it wasn't a brilliant move to let a corporation build its spy network when all sides to all conflicts have equal access to the top spy satellites unless you are pushing complete global anhilation..

I wouldn't call getting out of the way "brilliant" either. "Sensible" seems more appropriate. And rather than use the term, "complete global annihilation", I'd use the term, "reduction in conflict".

I'm not sure Obama can politically afford to get too carried away with bombing ISIS. Whether it is true or not, there is plenty of talk that Obama allowed this to happen by not keeping troops in Iraq longer. He blames the Iraqi government for not updating the SOFA agreements but people have been claiming that Hillary (presumable under Obama's orders) kept increasing demands that couldn't be met by the Iraqi government. He then declared his campaign promise has been realized

Well he can't run for re-election and that tends to let second term Presidents do things they normally wouldn't do for fear of negatively impacting the next election. The world cannot continue using the earlier Iraqi and Afghanistan wars as an excuse to completely oppose all potential military involvement in any future situation. When making the decision on whether to commit military forces each situation needs to be evaluated separately and on it's own merits. The ISIS threat needs to be destroyed using an

I do not disagree with your sentiment, I just perceive Obama's dilemma as being such that he will loose face whichever way he goes so I think he is going to pick whatever is most favorable to him according to the people he cares to impress.

Otherwise, who is going to pay him $2mil a speech or give his daughters a cushy job so his future is secure......It's like drawing a line in the sand and having Russia bail them out when it appears that not only was it crossed, but they were pissing all over your sand cas

There are other 'terrorist organizations' with 'hostile activities in Iraq and Syria', some of them a tad less indigenous than ISIS.
They aren't in the news much. How 'bout they all get the fuck out of there and let the locals decide how they want to run their country?

Seem the area has many groups - some friendly to one agenda, others friendly to other agendas.
It doesn't seem hard to use areal photos to find *a* camp. But how might they know it's an ISIS camp?
(especially considering that a facility may be Local Police one day, and ISIS the next.

If you RTFA, you'd see that they referenced ISIS PR videos, so it's not just "oh that looks like it might be training camp" but "these geo features from the videos correspond exactly to this thing here on the map" type of analysis.

Seriously, after that sawing off a live man's head, I have NO problem with blowing these assholes away. In fact, I would be happy to pull the trigger to launch.

Now, the real question is, did this interfere with an on-going operation? I would hate to think that showing them how easy it is to find out info from their propaganda would stop its flow.

Did you watch the video? I did and they have another hostage ready to chop his head off. And they taunted Obama at the end, saying it's your move.So ya, blow these people up, another journalist loses his head. It's all fair, you know, democracy & thank. Kill them, they kill us, kill them, they kill us, kill them, they kill us, etc....

Good luck with that plan, because well, it's the same crappy plan that has gotten us into this mess.

Islam has been at war with everyone else from its inception. The West had to do nothing to incur their wrath. In fact, they need the West so they can claim to be victims and prepare their followers to die for Islam...and virgins...don't forget the virgins. Apparently, Heaven is full of them just waiting for a bunch of hairy, smelly jihadis.

Islam has been at war with everyone else from its inception. The West had to do nothing to incur their wrath. In fact, they need the West so they can claim to be victims and prepare their followers to die for Islam...and virgins...don't forget the virgins. Apparently, Heaven is full of them just waiting for a bunch of hairy, smelly jihadis.

You do realize that a sizable portion of the world's Muslims live in The West, right?

I think you're confusing Islam with a particular politically motivated Islamic sect -- kind of like people do with the Crusades, Westboro, calling the US a Christian country that abuses its power, etc.

It's not that religions are at war with everyone; it's that they can be easily abused for political gain, if care is not taken to prevent this.

What is your plan? Idea? I really would like to hear it. And remember their bible demands the murder of the Infidel there is no well maybe it can be read this way or that way. It black and white demands it. How does one fight against someone following their religion and teaching?

And remember their bible demands the murder of the Infidel there is no well maybe it can be read this way or that way. It black and white demands it.

First of all, [citation needed].

How does one fight against someone following their religion and teaching?

Did you know that the Christian Bible also "black and white demands" that anyone caught working on a Sunday be put to death? (citation [biblehub.com]). And yet somehow we don't see a lot of killings of Sabbath-breakers. So most clearly people can distinguish between the applicable and non-applicable parts of their holy texts. (Those who cannot we call "fundamentalists", and they are the problem; not every religious person in the world)

Well were not talking about the Christian or their bible so any reference to it is moot. Were Talking about the Koran and Muslim faith. Christian are not beheading and Murdering in the name of their God at this point in time. Muslims are.

The way to deal with these people is to ignore whether they have the second hostage (assume he's already dead, even if that's technically premature) and to bomb the area, preferably with something like white phosphorous incendiaries. It also needs to be done soon, because people regard such actions less favourably when it is longer from the event which the punishment is being meted out for. Make it very clear that once someone starts killing hostages, reprisals will come. If you don't, the next damn terror

Only way you can hammer it to them its bad idea to simply dip shrapnells to pig blood in when bombing them and declaring that every western hostage they kill the air force will use pig blood in shrapnells for hundred bomb that is deployed against them.

Yes, it works so great to instead pacify these ppl and turn the other cheek. Thank God that Churchill continued Chamberlin's approach of pacifying Hitler all during the 30s. And likewise, when we pacified USSR's Stalin, he settled right down. And the same with Mao and Pol Pot. Likewise, when Europe pacified Mladi, it never lead to horrible results.

1.) Photographs are images frozen in time. A little bit later, things change. Try it. Go outside with your phone and take a picture. Wait until after Family Feud. Go outside and look at the same scene and the picture on the phone. Notice the the cat is gone now.

2.) "I would hate to think that showing them how easy it is..." -- Just no, OK?

> Seriously, after that sawing off a live man's head, I have NO problem with blowing these assholes away.

If a video of a man's head being sawed off makes you frightened and impairs your judgement, then you are just playing into their hand. It's a shame the word 'terrorism' has shifted away from its original meaning of "The use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims", because it's such a great word, and it applies amazingly well here. An act of terror doesn't have to be crashing a p

It is sad that you had to resort to ad hominum thereby nullifying anything that you say rather than think things through.
Was I frightened? Nope. However, this is a group that wants to be a NATION. This is supposed to be a state. Now, they take a journalists, capture him, torture him for multiple years and then in the end, saws off his head. Frightened? No. However, a nation that would BUTCHER somebody like this, would be universally condemned.

I agree with your points about genocide, I never said anything contrary. Nevertheless, sawing off a man's head and posting the video online is an act of terror. To drive the point home, it seems that the knife used during the video was a prop knife (or just a very dull one) and the actual beheading happened off-screen, maybe even after he was killed by other means.

Anger impairs your judgement, as it's doing now. Instead of thinking about what needs to be done to stop the ISIS threat, and then doing it, you're just directing your anger at the wrong target and proposing a plan that makes no sense and would just make things worse.

Yes, it is far better to be like Europe where they simply pay the terrorists a ransom, ignoring the fact that it continues to rise and fund the terrorism.

Willfully obtuse much? If the U.S. gets to bomb a few thousand people because one guy got his head cut off, what are the Muslims over there entitled to do to you in return for Predator Drones, Signature Strikes, and bombing weddings and funerals?

The largest and nastiest terrorist groups in the world are indisputably the United States and Israel.

wanted to upvote, but instead opted to comment. i'm astounded at the extent to which everyone is falling for the same old story. it's like bad kabuki-theatre.. they are barely trying to even pretend anymore that it's all orchestrated, but people just refuse to see it. sigh.

would someone please stop and think?? We are being told to believe on the one hand that "ISIS" is this incredibly intelligent and organized organization. yet on the other hand, that said same intelligent organization would commit a hei

ISIS has been ISIL for at least a month now. The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria changed to the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant. This is significant as they are trying to create a Muslim Caliphate over the governments of the entire region.

I used this technique a few years ago to find a CIA detention centre in Afghanistan called "The Salt Pit". A satellite imaging company showed images but without coordinates (at government request). I had Google Earth and looked at the colors and images carefully. It took about 45 minutes, but I found it and posted the exact lon/lat to Wikipedia. They didn't turn me down.

Yeah, because Christianity is truly the religion of peace. Tell that to:

the NLFT (a Christian organisation likely supported through weapons and finance from the Baptist Church of Tripura), Roman Catholic terorists in the same area, anti-Balaka Christian militants in the Central African Republicl killing Muslim civilians, Swami Lakshmanananda Saraswati assassinated on behalf of Christians(potentially even the head of the local World Vision chapter) - he claimed Christian missionaries had attacked him eight